Last night we got home from visiting some friends in Indiana. It is always nice to get out of the house for a couple hours and share some laughs when possible. It was still light out when we returned home, and the strong urge to go for a run presented itself. I haven't been out for a run in a while, and since the New York Marathon in November, my training has really turned into a minimal effort. The run wasn't great, but it felt good just to get out and move, which is something I find myself doing less and less these days with a newborn and work-related responsibilities. Free time is now reserved for sitting and hanging out with family and maybe some reading or a show before bed. Waking up at 4:30am for the gym feels next to impossible now that I am out of the habit.
So the run was rough, but the rhythm returned quickly and the oxygen felt powerful as it cooled my lungs with every breath. The path was a familiar one, around the subdivision, and it was as if I could almost see my previous footsteps from any one of the other times I had run this before. By the end of the 3 miles, I was feeling some traces of what had once been my running legs. I will go again today to try and push a little more and maybe get that soreness back. There was a time when a run consisted of at least 8 miles, and my first half marathon is fast approaching in May. Taking the first steps back after a winter of rest is difficult, but I miss my ability to run continuously, and I have let m weight slide back to a place it was years ago, that I thought it wouldn't get back to.
Running now has a purpose of health more than simple pleasure. It is still that, too...but I need to get back to the place I once was. A place where I felt pride in what I was doing and how it impacted my life in such a positive way. I have the gear and the desire, and now it is the making time part that challenges me more than anything else. Hopefully, as we begin yet another transition as a family when Kim returns to work next month, we will rediscover time management and we will continue to create new schedules and routines that allow us the ability to spend time together, and also in pursuit of the things that make us happy and bring us satisfaction as individuals.
...
And now it is nearly Monday. The day has passed, and I did indeed get to run again. This time with Audrey on her bike as my coach and motivator. The soreness in my legs is minimal, but still makes me feel as if I have accomplished something. Like the smoldering embers from a fire...there is still warmth, but not the flame. As my eyes grow heavy, I take a deep breath and feel humble and thankful that I am so lucky to live this life. My children and my wife are everything, and I am a lucky guest in this house. What a life, what a life.
